Morning greens: Guess which species may inherit our warming oceans?

KPCC's Molly Peterson on a Gilligan's Island style tour of environmental stories in and affecting Southern California. Named for the Yvor Winters poem: "The slow Pacific swell stirs on the sand/Sleeping to sink away, withdrawing land..."
Follow the blog at @PacificSwell and Molly at @KPCCmolly.

Super-sized jellyfish are swarming our oceans while a sticky squirrel makes a break from the La Brea Tar Pits. Meanwhile, six people were attacked by bees in Orange County while NASA weighs in on a mysterious green fireball over Southern California skies. Welcome to your pre-weekend morning greens.

A new study shows bigger jellyfish are taking over our oceans. “A study released Thursday found that the spineless creatures are becoming the dominant predator in areas where fish species are being reduced by overfishing and habitat destruction,” reports Msnbc.com. The jellyfish are also absorbing more water and getting bigger. In an ironic twist, jellyfish are shutting down the fishing industry which has enabled their growth, undermining “fishing industries in the Bering and Black seas.”

An intrepid squirrel has been rescued from the La Brea tar pits. The Los Angeles Times reports that a young female fox squirrel was dragged from the sticky pits by LA County Museum of Art staffers. She was then shipped off to the California Wildlife Center for a good scrub-down, only to be returned to the tar pit grounds. No word if the squirrel plans a repeat of her oily dunking.

Four people have been hospitalized with bee stings in Orange County. ABC 7 reports that six people were stung Thursday in Santa Ana when men working in a storage yard jostled a bee hive. The bees, reportedly aggressive, swarmed the men, including a disabled man unable to make a quick escape. Two of the men were stung up to 100 times by the bees.

Ever wonder what it takes to get bi-partisan support for your bill? Both Democrats and Republicans agree that putting a 300-acre dump on top of drinking water aquifers next to a river and adjacent to Native American burial grounds is a bad idea. Both parties voted to pass Senate Bill 833, which prevents the action. “This is a huge victory for the residents of San Diego County, whose critical water resources have been threatened by the proposed Gregory Canyon Landfill ever since developers first hatched this ill-conceived idea over two decades ago,” writes the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Did you see a green fireball streaking across the sky Wednesday night? If so, put away your alien dreams, because NASA shares that it was “just” a fireball or a very bright meteor. As NBC LA reports, “The fiery light was seen over the southwestern United States. Residents in Phoenix, Las Vegas and Southern California reported seeing the object.” While reports of UFOs circled, Dr. Ed Krupp of the Griffith Observatory weighed in that “this happens all the time.”